Sweets and Female Dogs
by Torticolis
Summary: IYYYH xover There once was a candy loving youkai and a dog loving miko. They met. Their sanity is about to be tested as they endure each other's presence. Oops, it just snapped. A HieiKagome pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Would I be here if I owned Inu Yasha or Yu Yu Hakusho? I do not think so either.

Chapter One

By Torticolis

"Yes, alright! I know, I know: three days, no more, no less. I get it! Happy? May I go now?" Asked an irate young miko.

"Feh. You better not be late wench!" Shouted a just as irate hanyou, as the girl dropped herself into the old dried up well she had been sitting on moments ago.

_Thud._

Kagome opened her eyes, her head tipped back, glancing upwards.

A roof.

Home.

She sighed happily. It's been two months since she last came back and she really needed the break. She'll finally be able to have a nice decent bath; a luxury she could not afford back in the feudal era. And after that maybe she could go to the amusement park or the movie theater with some friends. But first things first, she desperately needed to catch up at school. Her grades were rapidly dwindling. She was worried, if this continued she would never even be able to graduate high school, much less enter an acceptable university. Failing Math she understood, failing English she understood, but History –_History– _that, she could not understand. For Kami's sake, she was living it! Alas, she soon found out that the feudal era was not the only era to have existed in Japan, many others preceded it and many others followed it. Even with her superior knowledge of Japanese folklore and legends she had only managed to scrap by.

Slowly, she climbed the ladder her mother had thoughtfully placed within the well. When she reached the top, she cautiously opened the latch to the well house door, discreetly peeking out. After all it would not do to scare ignorant tourists half to death. And it certainly would not do to have said tourists report to the papers that their shrine was haunted. Kagome knew from experience.

When no human presence were detected, the raven-haired girl happily skipped toward the house's main entrance, humming a joyful little tune along the way.

"Hellooo! I'm back!" She called out in a singsong voice.

"Oh! Hello dear!" Exclaimed her mother, head popping out from the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet? No? All right, go and take a nice bubble bath. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

'Ah... A bubble bath,' daydreamed Kagome cheerfully.

Not contesting, she hurriedly did as she was told to. Dear Kami did she miss modern appliances!

When she was done with her bath, cheeks rosy from the steam, she came out of the bathroom only to be greeted by the delicious scent of oden.

'Mmm...'

Yes, Kagome was home.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

The next morning, she took advantage of her situation by rising later than she usually did in Inu yasha's presence. As she finally awoke from a deliciously uninterrupted slumber, she hurried down the stairs, swallowed her breakfast in a gulp and ran to school as fast her legs could carry her.

The day was awful, the words coming out of her teachers' mouth seemed nothing more but pure gibberish to her. Even with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi's helpfully provided notes all she could understand in the teachers' speech were the conjunctions such as and, but, so, if etc. which only served to further confuse her.

When school had at last ended, she was grateful for the reprieve, feeling unexplainably lucky as she realized that Hojo had not come to try and ask her out yet. She did not feel like dealing with guilty feelings for having to yet again either lie to him or stand him up.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Another day went by and still no signs of Hojo. 'What's going on?' Wondered Kagome. Not that she wanted him to come and see her, oh no.

Ok. Maybe a little.

But it's quite understandable seeing as how Inu yasha kept undermining her; she needed an ego boost, and that was exactly what Hojo provided. He was the only sign the gods have bestowed her to remind her that no matter what, she was still a pretty enough girl who could actually get asked out on a date.

Anyhow, back to the point. It was abnormal; Hojo would usually have come to see her by now. Two days is fairly enough for the news of her return to reach him. Worried, Kagome eventually asked Eri if she knew of his whereabouts.

"Hojo?" The girl asked before screeching out, "Kagome! You've finally decided to give the guy a chance? I'm so happy for you!"

Her squealing had unwittingly caught the attention of both Yuka and Ayumi and, let's face it, the whole hallway of students (who, thankfully only shrugged their shoulders, made a crazy gesture with their hand to their companions, and went on ignoring them).

"Really Kagome?" Asked Yuka. "What about your boyfriend?"

"Did you break up with him? He was pretty hot!" Piped Ayumi. (AN: I do not know about the Anime, but I follow the manga and at one point Kagome's friends had actually met and approved of Inu yasha.)

"Eh? No! I was just wondering if Hojo was alright. He usually comes see me after class, whenever I come to school." Explained Kagome.

A loud collective gasp went around the group.

"You've been cheating on Inu yasha with Hojo?" They queried with identical aghast looks upon their faces.

"No! We just... talk about stuff is all."

"Right." Again, similar looks of disbelief were etched upon their faces. 'What are they? Siamese triplets?' Thought Kagome irritably.

Growing impatient, Kagome repeated her original question more forcefully. "Do. You. Know. Where. He. Is?"

"He hasn't come to school for two days now." Answered Yuka, her eyes shooting in every which way nervously.

Their little circle suddenly became even smaller.

"We aren't supposed to know this, but I've heard that he was reported missing." Provided Ayumi in a hushed tone of voice while casting nervous glancing around them.

"Yeah, there's talk that he has been kidnapped" Added Eri just as quietly. "They say the police think it's the same person who committed the other six abductions in this area."

"A serial kidnapper around here? Creepy." Commented Ayumi.

"And the criminal could be anyone." Whispered Eri.

"Your neighbor, the mailman, the taxi driver, that nice lady who walks her dog in the park every morning, one of the teachers, or even one of the students." Supplied Yuka, adding to the drama. All three looked at each other and shuddered.

"Now wait a minute." Exclaimed Kagome, breaking the spooked atmosphere. "What on earth are you guys –well, girls actually –talking about?"

Another concerted gasp issued from their mouths. "You mean you don't know?"

'If I did I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?' Thought Kagome dryly. "No. I don't know."

"It's been going on for two weeks now, everyone has been talking about it. Six teenagers, seven if we count Hojo, have disappeared. Apparently kidnapped by an expert. He has not left a single trace or clue of his identity as of yet. The police do not have any trails to follow, but there were some definite signs of struggle on the scenes, like a few drops of the victims blood or a fingernail or so on and so forth. And coincidentally, all seven of the victims were from this sector of the city." Related Ayumi ominously.

Kagome suppressed her urge to gulp. Although she has had her number of encounters with demons before, Ayumi sure knew how to tell a story. Goosebumps had started appearing on her arms and she could feel the hair on her neck rising.

"It's a shame though, Kagome." Stated Yuka blithely. "You should've asked Hojo out earlier. Now, it's too late."

The others voiced their agreements, and with that, the conversation turned to lighter subjects such as boys, clothes, boys, jewelry, and, of course, boys. Nevertheless, Kagome still could not get over the sudden feeling of chills running down her spine or the sense of being watched, after hearing the story.

That day, she made her way home with a nervous gait, jumping in fright at the slightest unexpected noise. Thankfully, no one popped out of the shadows and no one tried to snatch her away.

Yet.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

At long last, the last day she had for this little holiday of hers had come, and it was blessedly a Saturday. 'No school!' A miniature Naraku could be seen doing the jig in her mind. She shook her head, quickly eliminating the image from her head. 'Now _that_ was scary.'

After a good night's sleep on a soft modern bed, she had completely forgotten about the mysterious kidnapper.

The day passed joyfully as she made the best of what little time she had left. Smiling, she bought some new camping accessories, poky, cat food, dog food, ramen, chips, and whatever other junk food she chanced upon in the convenience store. 'I wonder if they have any wolf food at the pet shop, or for that matter, fox food.' She giggled stupidly at the absurd thought before skipping toward the cashier.

And so the day went on.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Skip.

Jump.

Twirl.

Skip.

Jump.

Twirl.

Kagome was a happy miko. She had finished shopping, packing, and had re-sewn her ripped sleeping bag. She was now spending her time dancing around in the park. This was the best day ever.

Alright, so maybe some parents had ushered their children away as they glanced at her uncertainly, and a dog had peed on her this morning, and a stray cat had scratched her when she had tried to pet it, and there was now an annoyingly big youkai overshadowing her, but it had all together been a-

Wait.

Youkai?

'Nope. I did not just gulp. That was not a gulp. That was the sound of me swallowing a rather large amount of saliva. Nothing to worry about. I'm not scared. I can handle this. Yep.'

Slowly, she turned around.

And there it stood. It had what looked like the body of a bear while it's fore and hind paws were actually human arms and legs. What looked like a grin appeared on its fur covered face and a look of deep malice coupled with intelligence resided in its beady eyes.

She was never going to look at Souta's stuffed bear in the same way ever again.

But it did not scare her! It was just another piece of shit! She could so beat it dead before it could utter the word ugly! It probably wasn't even smart enough to say the word! Hah ugly and stupid, her easiest opponent yet!

Insulting the creature in her mind seemed to have helped her get a grip on herself and calmed her down a bit. Well she had been _somewhat_ calm, until she saw it open it's great jaws and...

"Ugly." It said in a low rumbling growl.

'What? Oh. OH NO!'

"Oopsies, did I say all that out loud? Eheheh..."

It lunged.

'Shit'

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

"What is it this time, toddler?" Thundered Yusuke, as he stepped out of the portal and slammed his fist upon Koenma's desk, causing the stacks of paper to flutter about in disarray.

Following the detective's rather violent entrance came a calm and perfectly composed redhead who went to stand immobile in front of the small reikai prince's desk. His arrival was trailed by that of Kuwabara's, easily recognizable by his bright orange Elvis styled hair, and Hiei, who simply crossed his arms and leaned on the wall with his custom flat look carved on his stony face.

Koenma massaged his temples tiredly, "There's been another breaching of the barrier again. This one's powerful; he's somehow managed to block off our Reiki detectors. He's also smart, staying hidden and preying only on the minimum of humans he needs to sustain himself. Thankfully he is not familiar with Ningenkai and so had assumed that, like the Makai, a few humans gone missing would go unnoticed. We have been notified that there have been unusual disappearances in this limited area. You will have to find him yourself." Here a screen appeared, showing a map on which a red circle had been drawn around a district of Shimizu City. "We are not aware of his level of strength, therefore you are to go on this mission together, in case he is an upper S class. Kill him if absolutely necessary, but it would be preferable if you brought him back alive for questioning." The screen went blank again as the small prince sighed.

"That would be all."

With that said, he waved his hand toward Botan, who happily chattered away as she created a portal, allowing them to pass through. Yusuke grudgingly stepped in, followed by the rest of the Reikai Tantei.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

In her moment of panic, all the minute details could be seen to Kagome as time seemed to have frozen.

The bear-like thing had its arms outstretched, what seemed like claws appeared to have replaced the nails on his human-looking hands. The youkai's plump body was launched into the air by a set of extremely muscled legs. And, most pressing of all; there was only a few centimeters' distance before its claws would reach her smooth unblemished flesh.

No Inuyasha was coming this time. No bow or arrows were at her disposal. Hell, she didn't even have a small purse or bag to whack it with! Instinct took over as her arms raised themselves, shielding her head from the oncoming attack.

Contact.

That thing had just made contact with her.

It touched her arms! Her poor arms! Eww!

Feeling disgusted, she forcefully pushed it away with all her might, desperate to end the touch. And then, something occurred, something that had only transpired once before, long ago, the day she had first fell into the well.

A burst of light.

And its arms fell. Detaching themselves from the youkai's torso, they landed on the grass with a low dull sound. The legs came next. Leaving the upper body without any means to move about.

Well Kagome certainly was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she hurriedly ran away, knowing that it might have the ability to regenerate itself. A bit cowardly an act, yes. But hey! One has got to do what one has got to do for survival's sake. And it's not like the police wouldn't be able to handle a handicapped bear on the loose, right? Right.

She hurried towards the well, grabbing the huge yellow bag she had left beside it and jumping into the blue light that slowly lulled her fear away.

'At least, Inuyasha's going to be happy. I'm early for once.'

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

As the four teammates split up and each searched independently for the trouble causing youkai to accelerate the hunt. They suddenly felt a light burst of power emanating from the east side of the city. It was small, almost undetectable, but since they had been expressly looking for the slightest of unnatural energy manifestations, they had noticed it. In spite of that, this was not the type of energy they had been expecting, it was unusual and unlike any youkai or high leveled spiritually aware human aura. In fact, if the thought weren't preposterous, they would have said that it held the same quality as the Sei Kou Ki Sensui had once used against Koenma, but that would require a fearful amount of energy and even then it was very hard to mold or use. Putting that bit of information aside to muse over later, they all ran towards the environs in which they had sensed the blast, knowing that their companions were most likely headed that way as well.

Hiei, due to his speed, arrived first. The fire apparition quickly analyzed the scene before walking away searching for a comfortable tree to lean on while he waited for the others to arrive.

'Hiei. What was that?' Kurama's voice echoed in his mind, sounding undeniably curious.

'_Hn. You are already on your way here, find out for yourself.' _Replied the seemingly bored Jaganshi, before he shut Youko's indignant cries out. Truth be told, he himself still did not know what 'that' was. However, the day he admitted a fact like this to the fox would be the day he died.

His eyes narrowed, this looked suspicious. Was it a trap? After all, the youkai had been able to mask his presence from them for hours, and then, he unexpectedly gives them just enough of a power burst to be noticed. Arriving on the lieux, they find him to be a lump of defenseless, moving fur, with its appendages cut off. If this wasn't a ruse then what was?

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

AN: Well, here you go! My first Iy/Yyh crossover and my second fanfic! I had originally intended for this chapter to be longer, but 2 thousand 7 hundred something words is a bit long for a first chapter do not you think? Yeah, so I cut it off here.

I want you all to be straightforward and blunt. Flame me, insult me, praise me; it's all welcome as long as you point out the faults you've found in the fic. It could be anything. Plot holes, OOC-ness, poor writing style, wrong information: A-NY-THING.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope. Not even close. Both Inu yasha and Yu yu hakusho are way out of my league.

Chapter Two

By Torticolis

"Inuyasha?"

Nothing. The birds had momentarily stopped chirping upon sensing the presence of an intruder in their territory before resumed their singing as they realized that the trespasser wasn't a threat. Other than that, the modern time teenager didn't receive any other signs of her return being noticed.

So she tried again, "Inuyashaaaaaaaaaaa!" The scream spread out far and wide throughout the forest, transported by means of the wind, and creating various resonating echoes. Let it never be said that Kagome Higurashi had weak lungs.

And yet, still nothing. Usually, whenever Kagome came back, Inuyasha would have been there, at times grumpy, at times annoyed, at times distracted (that state was usually caused by the added presence of Kikyou), at times ignoring her, but rarely was he not present when her head peaked out from the well's opening.

This absence was distressing. She was extremely worried. Why? Well...

How was she supposed to get her heavy-ass bag out of that damningly deep well without any help?

Oh, the awful dilemma she now faced. Should she leave the bag here while she went to the village to find herself a ladder that would facilitate her way up with her gigantic fluorescent yellow bag on her back? Or should she sit here and wait for help to come?

Both options were bad. Even if she ran to the village, found a ladder and ran back at top speed, her bag would have probably been either:

Raided by wild forest critters.

Raided by unsavory humans or youkai.

Stolen by unsavory humans or youkai.

If she stayed here and waited for Kirara or Inuyasha to help her with her bag she would:

Die of boredom long before one of them would at long last arrive.

Get raided along with her bag (and possibly raped) by unsavory humans or youkai.

Get raided along with her bag (and possibly raped) and then kidnapped by said unsavory humans or youkai.

Well, Kagome knew how the saying goes; better you than me, or in her case, better my bag than me. So she made a dash for the village, urging her legs to go faster as her vivid imagination chased after her.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Koenma isn't very pretty when his face is red. Well, actually, Koenma isn't very pretty at all when he's angry and frustrated. Unfortunately for the Reikai Tantei, they had to endure the unpleasant sight, as well as the unpleasant ranting that regularly accompanied the small prince's crimson colored face.

"I can't believe this! I can't believe this!"

"We understood you the first time toddler." Cut in a just as irritated Yusuke. Retrieving and bringing back what was left of the youkai they had been hunting had been fairly easy. Getting the mass of fur to talk had also been fairly easy. And because of that, all the members of the Reikai Tantei were fairly _un_easy. It had been a bit too simple.

From what they were told by their capture, a cryptic character had procured the youkai an illegal shard of the Fuyouheki. In exchange, all the hungry demon had to do was stay in a designated area and eat its fill on the resident humans. Unsurprisingly, this new piece of knowledge caused the little Reikai prince a lot of worries ("Impossible! The Fuyouheki is supposed to be in one of our highly guarded vaults! GEOOORGE, what is the meaning of this!"). Even more peculiar though, was that when asked how he had gotten himself into such an injured state, the demon would only stare blankly ahead and utter the words 'ugly', 'food' and 'girl' repeatedly like a broken record. (To which Yusuke had commented, "Bah, the girl he was supposed to eat was probably so ugly that he went kaboom.")

Therefore, the bear youkai was placed in the mentally unstable wing for the healers to try and extract more information. The Reikai Tantei, on their part, were ordered to always have a member around the area where they had felt the power come from, in case the one responsible for the power outburst returned.

That is how Hiei found himself sitting high up in one of the trees of the small park where they had found the battered and beaten kuma.

The damn fox was late, his shift had already started fifteen minutes ago. Hiei was not in a good mood, in fact no one in the group was feeling the least bit happy. It had already been a week in which each member of the team had taken turns guarding the area in their free time, and still nothing of interest has yet to have shown up. Even Kurama was starting to feel the toll of anxiety as he began snapping at his fan girls.

The fire apparition chuckled inwardly. At least watching the usually composed redhead lose his calm in front of everyone had provided him with some entertainment.

'Hiei.' Kurama stood beneath the tree, looking up to meet his red eyed gaze.

'_Hn. You are tardy.'_

'I apologize. The teacher wanted a word with us.'

A snort resounded through their connection, courtesy of Youko, 'More like she wanted a make out session with us.'

'Youko!'

'It's true, did you see the way she was eyeing us? Brrr. That old hag keeps hitting on us all the time!'

'She was merely being nice.'

'Did you see that smile? I'm telling you, she's trying to get into our pants!'

Hiei resisted the urge to roll his eyes, 'Fox. You owe me fifteen minutes tomorrow.' With that said, he bounded off, leaving the two to their bickering.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Kagome looked around her, her blue orbs searching the forest frantically, "Help? Umm... Heeelp? Anyone?"

Two hours. She had spent two hours in this god-forsaken forest, walking around in circles. You see, a bored Kagome isn't good. On the contrary, it was a very dangerous thing, especially for herself. And while she had sat there, on the dried up old well, waiting for a crimson clothed hanyou, she had become bored. So her mind had wandered off to all the possibilities of her getting raped or kidnapped along with her flashy bag. Griped by fear and the remnants of adrenaline from her encounter with the bear youkai, she had run toward what she had thought was the village. Key word: thought.

And now she was completely and utterly lost. Add to that the fact that she was also hungry, tired, and trekking on with hurting feet. 'Maybe I should have just sat there and waited for Inuyasha to come find me after all.'

Releasing a great sigh, she roved on. Momentarily resting her tired eyes as she continued walking blindly.

_Bump._

Cloth. Her face had sunken into the rough materiel most commoners used as clothing in this era. Her mind squealed. Clothes Person Help. Finally someone who could aid her in finding her way back to Kaede's village. Being entirely rash and letting her fatigue win her over, she stayed in her current position, leaned into the warmth created by her supposed savior's body heat and mumbled a "Help... Lost... Kaede... Village..." before giving her body some much needed sleep.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Later on, when bright shining stars appeared, twinkling around a silver moon, Kagome opened her weary eyes. A gasp and a squeak was heard in the room before... "Where the _bloody hell_ am I?" Screamed the girl.

An amused voice spoke up from the darkness, "Here."

"Kyaaaa!"

"Ouch woman, stop the screaming will you?" Complained the boyish voice.

"What did you do to me? Where am I?" Asked Kagome, glaring at the splotch of darkness from whence she thought the noise came from.

"Excuse me? You were the one who fell asleep on me." Complained the voice, starting to sound strangely familiar to Kagome's ears.

Kagome blushed, "Kyaa! I –I did?"

"Stop it with the Kyaa-kyaa, my ears are starting to hurt!" Now that phrase, she had heard someone say quite some time ago...

_Click._

"Eh? Kouga-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh."

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

And so Kagome found herself safely returned to Kaede's village, where she discovered that Inuyasha and the others and had gone to get rid of some low-level youkai for a neighboring village. She waited for them to come back, while guiltily taking advantage of the villagers' and Kaede's hospitality.

Not long after, the Inu Tachi returned, injured and tired, but alive –apparently, they had overestimated the enemy. Kagome hurriedly helped her companions tend to their injuries, fussing over them as a mother hen would. Although there weren't any fatal injuries, Kaede had recommended for Sango –who was the second most injured after Inuyasha –to stay in bed for at least a week. ("Lest ye want an infection that _would_ make that shoulder injury of ye's fatal.")

And so they stayed in the village. Kaede was little, old and wrinkled, but still scary when you were considered one of her patients. A week passed, while Kagome helped as best she could around the village with Shippou following her everywhere. Miroku flirted with the injured taijiya, and Sango blushed at Miroku's comments before bopping him unconscious. All this, while Inuyasha snapped at everyone restlessly.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

"What do you mean you're going back?" Inuyasha didn't look very happy.

Kagome sighed, "I need to restock, get myself a new bag and a first aid kit." The group had already been informed about Kagome's rash decision to dash away from the well and her bag, leaving a month's worth of food and bandages to whoever was to pass by. Sango had been incredibly understanding, Shippou had cried a little over the loss of candy, Inuyasha had berated her with a "feh, stupid girl", while Miroku had merely groped her arse.

"Keh, I don't need any of your crappy smelling alkahal." Inuyasha's nose wrinkled in distaste. "My wounds are already perfectly healed."

"It's alcohol," corrected Kagome, sitting on the well's rim as she inched towards its opening, "and I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about Sango and Miroku, and possibly Kirara too."

Inuyasha still didn't seem to be relenting. She tried using her most placatory voice, "Look, I'm going back to get some food and necessities, it'll take me, at most, three hours. I won't even go to school or pass any test."

Inuyasha grumbled, "Ch. Why didn't you just go get all that stuff ready when the week Kaede prescribed wasn't over?"

"Because!" Was her only reply. Truth was, Kagome had been a teeny bit scared of going to the well after all those frightening thoughts her mind had conjured up. Plus, Inuyasha had also been injured with a gaping hole in his chest. Although it had healed without leaving a scar in three short days, she doubted he would have been up to helping her heave her gigantic bag out of the well.

"Because what?" Retaliated the fully recovered Inuyasha, his ears flattened against his skull in irritation.

"Ugh. JUST BECAUSE!" And then, she disappeared with a flash of blue.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Kurama had been seated on a bench near the park, trying to politely pry himself from an annoying girl named Yuki or Yuka, when he felt the energy pulse. This one had a different feel to the one he and the rest of the team had felt, but it was still worth investigating. Taking the advice Youko had generously given him ever since the girl had attached herself to his arm, he stood up and shook her off without a second thought and let her fall to the ground on her bum.

The girl pouted but otherwise didn't make another attempt for his already sore arm.

'You see?' Bragged his youkai counterpart as they raced towards the strange pulse, 'We should do things my way more often.'

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

AN:

The Fuyouheki is an anti-youki ball that Naraku had stolen from a mountain youkai, Gakusajin, to erase his heart's (also known as the baby) youki, in order to keep it hidden ifrom the Inu Tachi.

There you go, the second chapter is up!

Read and Review! Plz?

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Review Responses:

Raining Thunder: Yup poor Kagome indeed. Don't worry, she'll meet the spirit detectives next chapter. Thanks for being my first reviewer! Have a pint of ice cream! Oh, and the cookies were excellent, could I have some milk with them next time?

KagHieiLuver: Thanks for the review, and yeah, poor Hojo. I still haven't decided what to do with him yet (although he _is_ supposed to be dead)... Hmm... I'll have to think about that. Hope you like this chapter too!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

By Torticolis

As Kurama rushed towards the source of the spark of power while contacting his fellow coworkers, Kagome was heading to her room in search of her wallet after having informed her inquisitive mother of the events that had brought her back.

As Kurama arrived before the well house at the back of the shrine, Kagome was leaving by the front door.

And as Hiei and the others met up with him, nothing was left for them to see as all signs of spiritual energy had been erased from the environs.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

With the anger and impatience of her hanyou friend (and possible love prospect -at this she blushed-) in mind, Kagome hurried to the convenience store and redid her purchases of the previous day with an additional new backpack to the cart.

The storeowner, a nice man in his forties who had become quite affable with the young teenager that had easily grown to be his most frequent and most profitable customer, offered her a 20 off on all items when he heard about her misfortune over her lost bag. Elated, Kagome thanked him profusely as it would definitely grant her rapidly declining amount of savings an essential break.

Finding a few more things missing, (after all, in spite of the convenience of a convenience store, one that sold tents and sleeping bags was unheard of,) Kagome was unhappily forced to also head to the mall, arms already laden with all the brick-a-brack she had earlier bought.

A couple more hours later, she hummed as she awkwardly walked home, the copious quantity of heavy shopping bags hauling her arms and torso down. Cursing the existence of gravity, she painfully limped on with a bent back, giving up carrying the bags and, instead, opting for dragging them across the rough surface of cement, praying that the thin plastic wouldn't abrade so easily.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Deciding to investigate the matter further, since Kurama swore that the signature had come from the dirtied old well house, the Reikai Tentei cautiously entered the house as they determined the area clear of any other presence. The interior of the small wooden building was surprisingly clean, without any signs of dust or dirt, indicating either a good maintenance by the keepers of the grounds or the construction being in use. Yet, as hard as they tried, none of them could fathom a reasonable employ the dried up well could serve as. The members of the team with youkai blood could only distinguish a select few scents from the place and had determined that the human ones must have been those of the shrine wardens. Strangely, the most recurrent human visitor was a young teenaged girl but, alarmingly enough, a potent hanyou presence seemed to be lingering around the timbered structure as well.

As they were heading back out of the shrine grounds, they met up with an amicable middle-aged woman who's father apparently owned the shrine grounds. Seeing this as a great opportunity to ask some unanswered questions. Kurama had queried her about the ido and if, mayhap, its history had a connection to demons.

Surprisingly, she had explained that the well did in fact possess a tie with youkai and, without further ado, had ushered them to the main house, introduced them to an all too eager old man and left them to their fate. The old man turned out to be her father and he had taken up a great deal of their time by enthusiastically rambling about everything there was and is to know of the well house and the shrine, as well as all the legends that came with them.

Kurama smiled politely as he silently waited for the geezer to finish. Hiei had subtly disappeared during the first two minutes of their encounter with the man while Yusuke and Kuwabara were busy playing Jankenpon behind their backs.

As the man appeared to be nearing the end of his discourse, a loud crash could be heard at the entrance followed by a sharp yelp. The elder abruptly stopped talking (much to an aggravated Youko's delight), and hurriedly made his way to the provenance of the clamor. The group followed with Yusuke at the lead as his attention was brought back into focus. Hiei reappeared not long after.

"Kagome! What have you done?!" Cried the old man mournfully, "You just broke one of our prized artifacts!" And indeed, as they peered forward, the troupe of detectives saw a very lavish (and very fake) vase shattered upon the floor. The small space of the doorway was filled with plastic bags upon plastic bags of random objects, most of which were useless and at the hub of the clutter sat a flushing young girl in her teenage years, who had placed her hand to the bleeding wound on her shin.

"Gomen, jii-chan." She said as she hissed softly when she moved to stand. "I didn't see it with all these cumbersome sacks blocking my sight." The grandfather sighed as he helped her stand and apologized to them before rushing her to the good-natured middle-aged lady who turned out to be her mother.

As they passed by the set of oddly attired teenagers, Kagome bit her lip and contained a gasp once she realized that the youki she had felt as she had entered the house (which had caused her impromptu bump into the tactlessly located vase) originated from several members of their mismatched cluster.

Hiei's eyes narrowed, as did Kurama's. The flash in the girl's eyes as she had glanced upon them foretold her knowledge of something more. She was not an average human. It was quite possible that she wasn't unlike Kuwabara's older sister who had an elevated spiritual awareness. As the family left them alone for a short while, the two informed the more humane members of their party about their hunch. Or rather, Kurama informed them as Hiei 'Hn-ed' and nodded once.

"You noticed too? I thought that she was different, but I just didn't know how." Was the surprising response from the habitually oblivious second best street fighter.

"Eh? What are you guys talking about? How come I didn't feel a thing?" Came the unsurprising reaction from the team leader.

The Jagan user resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the Urameshi brat's stupidity as he leaned against the wall in boredom, waiting for the others to sort things out.

Kuwabara puffed his chest out and taunted the ignorant fool, acquiring a few bumps on the head in the process, before Kurama stepped in and suggested that they behave as they were in a stranger's house and were here on a mission. It was also suggested that they wait until the girl's wounds were tended to and, afterwards, attempt inquiring her about any recent abnormal feelings she might have discerned around the area.

The somewhat undersized youkai watched as the two idiots calmed and settled down. He made to throw a derogatory comment at them both, but was interrupted when the lunatic aged man came back and started blathering anew. As if on cue, Kurama's face became perfidiously polite once more, and the other two restarted another game of Jankenpon. The koorime snorted. Jumping out the open window and unto the large tree he had been occupying before the unnecessary commotion, he nestled down and waited for the rest of them to finish the dull business of interrogating an obviously air-headed teenaged female.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

It was already late afternoon. Kagome winced as she thought of the irate mood Inuyasha was probably in at the moment. After all, she had promised she'd take four hours _at most_. Since her departure in the early morning, she had, by now, spent at least seven hours in her time.

As her mother finished applying the band-aid on (not that Kagome couldn't do it herself, but she suspected that it was kaa-san's way of spending just a little more time with her ever guiltily absent daughter), the untrained miko hurriedly said goodbye, stuffed all the recently procured items in her new oddly colored baby blue bag, and dashed towards the back door, not wanting to disturb –or encounter– their anomalous visitors.

Kagome stepped out, breathing in the cool air before putting on the shoes she had been carrying. She adjusted the straps of the colossal bag and enjoyed the short walk to the well house.

Unbeknownst to her, keen red eyes followed her every movement from the nearby Goshinboku. They narrowed when her steps led her unquestioningly to the well. As the aged door opened with a rasp, she was suddenly shoved against the frail wall. With her bulky bag pressing between the smooth surface and her back, she was uncomfortably arched as the pointy edge of a Pocky box poked at her harshly through the fabric. From her painful position, she looked up to be met with ominous ruby eyes. She was just about to push herself up when cool steel abruptly pressed itself to her front. Her mouth watered and she quickly swallowed the thick amount of saliva with an audible gulp.

"What do you want?" She asked, glaring fiercely back at her assailant and trying to conceal her dread. And as she always did when she was scared, she inwardly listed all the pejorative qualities of the cause of her alarm. 'Just a hormonal youkai freak. Yeah, I bet he can't even handle that sword properly anyways. Blah. Plus, he's so stunted. Hah, like this shorty can scare me.'

It calmed her down, though, conversely, this time her luck had run out; even if she hadn't voiced her thoughts aloud on this occasion (unlike the similar bear incident of last week), she was faced with an opponent who could read minds. And said opponent was not in the least bit happy concerning what he had unearthed from the surface of her thoughts. The sword inched onward, dangerously testing the pliability of her delicate human skin.

'_A hormonal freak, hn?'_ A glint entered the redness of his eyes as a sharp fang was shown when his lips stretched into a deceitful smirk. Kagome perspired as his voice whispered into her mind.

'Oops.' Was all she could conjure up as realization had abruptly halted all the working wheels in her brain. Her thinking process had entirely ceased while one of the dangerous guests her family had thoughtlessly invited in was creeping ever closer.

The drumming of her heart accelerated faintly as her voice wobbled. "What do you want from me?" She _had_ been telling the truth: her attacker was certainly short, especially for a male. As Kagome was quite petite herself, it was startling that he only reached her forehead, even if his defiantly spiky hair did make him seem a trifling bit taller.

He stared into her eyes as the spot at the center of his forehead, covered by his white bandana, emanated dark wisps of ki reaching out dangerously close to her, "Hn. You are no ordinary ningen."

Not about to be scared completely speechless just yet, Kagome boldly turned her head away from the terrifying sight. "And _you_ aren't even a human to begin with."

"Very accurate observation." A new voice barged in, this one smoother, but still indubitably male. Kagome cursed.

"What is this? A gang rape at my own house?!?" She shouted indignantly.

"Hiei, let her go." A third voice came forth, a bit rougher than the other two, though it appeared to still be a small ways back as the order had been shouted. However, Kagome didn't notice or register these facts as her mind had already blocked out all surrounding activities, wandering off to appallingly tasteless imaginings of the horrors that might occur to her on this night.

'Oh Kami, this really is a gang rape, isn't it? Mama, jii-chan, what have you done? Your innocent daughter and granddaughter is about to get raped! Where are you guys? And why isn't Souta home yet. Shouldn't he be arriving soon?'

Hiei sneered as he browsed through the girl's idiotic thoughts. Tsh. As if _he_'d be interested in silly human girls who had bird sized brains. He released her, but not after digging his sword in a little deeper, breaking her fragile skin and a tiny vein along with it, drawing blood. It was her punishment for having insulted him, at least for now… If she wound up being useless to them, she had better watch her back.

As the black clothed Forbidden One stepped aside, Yusuke advanced cautiously to the shivering schoolgirl. "Oi, are you okay?" He reached a hand out to help her crumpled form up, but she inched away with an angry glare.

"What do you _want_? God dammint!"

Surprised at the unexpected outburst, seeing that she had given the impression of being completely terrified, the brown eyed street fighter with an abundance of hair gel to spare stepped back. He lifted his hands up in the air to show that he meant no harm and slowly gestured to his team. "Right. So how about we start over? My name's Urameshi Yusuke, that's Kuwabara Kazuma, Minamino Suichii, and the little bastard who just assaulted you is Hiei."

She looked at them skeptically, as if they were either crazy or stupid. "Well that's all nice and dandy, but I don't think you're supposed to introduce yourselves before raping a girl. How do you know I won't go to the authorities?"

Kuwabara choked. Kurama coughed. Hiei watched on with sly amusement. And Yusuke's eyes bugged out, dangerously close to tumbling out of their sockets. "WHAT?!?"

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

AN: There you go! Sorry for the long wait, I don't have any excuses… But since the summer vacations have arrived, I'll probably have more free time, hence more updates! YAY!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

By Torticolis

Yusuke stuttered as his shocked mind tried to process the words that had come flying out of an obviously crazed girl's mind, "Wh-wha… I… you… ra-rape… we… n-no… that's… _What?_"

Kurabawa was no better as he started furiously rubbing his eyes with his fists; obviously not coherent enough to notice that if he had heard wrong, then it would have had to do with his ears instead of his eyes. Kurama watched his teammates' antics with weary dismay before cautiously approaching the noticeably scared-brainless (pun… that might have been intended) girl with a gentle hopeless smile. "I apologize for my friend's rather blunt measures, take no heed of them. I assure you that we mean you no harm whatsoever." He treaded forward another step, blocking the girl's view of the elemental youkai. Her adrenaline rushed out with a heaved sigh as lucidity reclaimed her mind once more.

Hiei glared as the sight of the dunderhead of a girl was replaced by silken red hair. With his vision of the entertainment impeded, he made his usual noncommittal sound and hopped back into the familiar shadows of the trees. Although he stayed immobile, his stony glare set uncaringly ahead, his senses were exclusively focused upon the goings-on within the small group.

"So… You're telling me that you are visiting this creaky old shrine just for the heck of it, and that you want to gather more knowledge about this dried up ido?"

Kurama nodded.

She looked dubious, "Why are you asking me about this when my jii-san has surely already told you all there is to know of it?"

Kurama's gears quickly worked their way passed the knot and failed to formulate a reasonably cogent excuse. "We simply wished for the opinion of one who is of our age." With her fear gone, the teenager had become far too discerning for their –_his_– comfort. They had not planned on having to interrogate an oblivious resident on the subject, and so, had not prepared a foolproof approach to present their questions without having to be cross-examined in return.

Small wrinkles appeared whilst she frowned. "That you would be interested about this aged old place doesn't surprise me too much, somehow you strike me as the studious type, especially with that polite way of speech you have. Still," with a sharp angry gesture, she jerked her head in Yusuke and Kurabawa's direction, "I doubt they're the kind that are usually interested in dull stuff like history, legends and ancient cultures."

A wily smile materialized as she turned to speak to the two, "Don't think I didn't see you guys playing Jakenpon when my grandfather restarted his accounting about the mysterious barrier powers of this shrine's front steps." She winked at them as the ridiculously tall russet head shifted his feet embarrassedly and the handsomer brunet barked out a boisterous laugh. "Good job at hiding it, but I noticed you guys through the hall, when I was heading toward the back door."

"Speaking of back doors," Kurama interrupted, "may I inquire as to why you were sneaking out at this time of the day?"

It was now her turn to be ill at ease. She hastily averted her eyes. "Who said I was sneaking?" She mumbled, huffily puffing her cheeks up and blowing the air out. "Plus, _I_ should be asking _you_ what your friend was doing, pointing that sword at people and cutting at them to make them bleed. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Seizing that line of thought, she spun on her feet and bellowed at the large tree behind her, "You _do_ know it's illegal to carry such a weapon around like that, don't you? You could be arrested! You hear me? Arrested!" She lifted a hand and pointed at the faint youki she could feel emanating from one of the larger branches. "Why did you assault me? You know, I could go to the police _right now_ and report you for harassment! _Then_ we'll see if you'll ever point that nasty sword my way again! Especially since you'll be stuck in pri-"

Alas, despite her brave words, Kagome found that the little man was once more pointing 'his nasty sword her way' with double the pressure, placed right above the first cut he had imparted to her not too long ago.

"Hiei. We still haven't asked her our questions. Let her go." Kagome clasped her hands together behind her back and resolved to thank the redhead liberally once she was released and safely tucked away from the infuriated swordsyoukai.

"Yeah! Let her go, shorty! That's no way to treat a girl!"

The bandana wearing youkai discounted the idiot and his asinine code of cavalry. "Hn. She can answer them just as well in this position."

"Hiei," a warning was slipped into his name, "the girl would be too frazzled to answer correctly."

Yusuke also added his two cents into the lot, agreeing with the rest of them and yelling for her to be released. Outnumbered by his own idiotic teammates, Hiei grudgingly released the grating girl from his deadly hold a second time in that evening. She dropped to her knees in understandable relief. With a placating hand to the chest so as to calm her wildly galloping heart, she looked towards the three safer members of the group and flashed them a thankful smile as she guzzled in some vitally needed air. That terrifying scare had begotten her temporary neglect to breathe.

"Oi! You alright there?" The generously gelled one of the group stepped forward and gave her a hand up.

Another heavy pant. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Great. Then it's time for you to tell us what's going on." He went around her and easily pulled her heavy bag up before letting it fall down to her strapped back, making her stumble. "Mind telling us what all this stuff is for? Looks like you're going on a camping trip."

The teen shifted nervously away from him. Kurama stepped forward next, inhaling softly, "I would also like to inquire as to why you are heavily swathed in an inu hanyou's scent."

"Wh-wh-what?"

"Kurama!" Hissed Yusuke non-too subtly. "What are you doing? She's already chary of us! Now, we'll have to go through the trouble of erasing her memories!"

"We would have had to erase her memories anyway." He punctiliously looked at the still heaving girl with narrowed eyes, "You are abreast of the existence of apparitions, are you not?"

Kagome chewed the insides of her cheeks. "Maybe."

Who the hell were they? And what could they possibly want with her? One minute they were acting genial, and the next they handled her with the enmity of one who was treating the reprehensible main suspect of a classified murder case

"Then you'll have to follow us to the Reikai." With that said, the one who had introduced himself as Yusuke pulled out an unusual device that was round and circular. It looked dreadfully similar to a compact mirror (dimly, Kagome wondered if he was vain enough to be checking his perfectly slicked hair at this time). He spoke lackadaisically into the mirror-like thing as he would a walkie-talkie. Right as he replaced the object within the folds of his pocket, a pulse was felt throughout her body before a blue-haired woman dressed in a light pink kimono appeared in front of her, having seemingly shimmered into existence.

The cheerful girl gave a small curl of her fingers in guise of a wave, "Ohayo minna-san!"

Motioning to her left, she jumped onto an oar that had abruptly materialized within her hands. "This way please." Then, mounted on the wooden row, she rushed straight forth while the rest followed on foot: a limply gaping Kagome being carried by a lecherously grinning Yusuke who was enjoying the glimpse down her shirt. Hey, he loved Keiko and all, but that didn't mean he wouldn't look when a delectable view was freely presented to him.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

A blindingly white pinprick appeared ahead, enlarging and encompassing them. Vaguely, Kagome noted that it felt similar to falling down the time-linked well. Leaving the bright light behind, she faintly registered plunging through the air prior to finding herself sitting on top of the a paddle, behind the jolly pink-eyed girl herself. Bellow her, the landscaped had changed radically; a long winding river flowed steadily through deserted plains where towering buildings and twisting streets should have been. She turned, craning her head to see the others clutching onto the redhead, the one called Suichii, whom had… sprouted wings? She blinked fixatedly while they drifted in the sky.

All of them ended up landing on solid ground, in front of a large set of elaborate doors. Suichii's butterfly-like wings shank; converting into a strange plant that lay docilely in his hands. It continued thinning until naught but a seed remained, of which he stored back into his lustrous… hair. Kagome squinted. 'What is going on? And… wait! Have they just _abducted_ me?'

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The loud wail could be heard miles and miles away from its original source. At any rate, it did within her mind. And she was just about to follow up her mental scream with a real one, when an unexpected voice interrupted her expulsion of air.

"Yes?" Sounded from the colossal doors.

"This is Botan speaking! Open the way please!" Cheered the oarswoman. 'Though, technically,' Kagome mused, 'she isn't really rowing a boat… but she still travels with the help of an oar, so does that still make her an oarsperson?' Mmm, the subject required cogitation. At a later time.

The doors slowly opened, interrupting Kagome's thoughts and leaving her gawping at the large expanse of space inside the building.

"Follow me!" Chirruped the girl now identified as Botan as she snatched Kagome's arm and gently lead her dazzled self through the grand entrance. Following obediently, her eyes taking in every detail of the lofty halls, Kagome hardly noticed the second set of widening doors. Loud, frenzied shouts jolted her attention to the quarter facing her. It sounded like her classroom during a break time, what with all the anarchic brouhaha going on. She observed with interest as ogres of various colors ran about in cravats. Some were handling boxes upon boxes of documents, others had a phone plugged onto each ear while jotting down something or other into an already crammed notepad. Nevertheless, she decided, the most unfortunate ones were those buried within heaps of red tape, unable to sort out the messy piles as they panicked at a misplaced slip of paper, frenetically rummaging for the right pile in which to place the aforementioned article since all the meticulously separated stacks had now been conglomerated into one big avalanche of fluttering notes.

"What are they-?" She tried querying, unable to unglue her eyes from the slovenly chaos of bureaucratic monsters and manuscripts.

"Oh, don't mind them! They're just a little overworked right now." Botan explained helpfully, fanning her hand away as if to say that it was of no importance. "Especially with the Fuyouheki gone, King Enma had ordered a systematic search of all possible security breaches to the vaults, and a deep analysis of all the problems this could cause us so that we'd have a ready solution for each crisis that may arise."

Waving a nonchalant hand at the stressed ogres, she smiled happily. "Right now, the most prominent quandary is the possibility that upper-level youkai use the shards of Fuyouheki to erase or minimize the detection of their youki and pass through the barriers without trouble." She paused thoughtfully while still pulling the engrossed teenager through the mess of paperwork, closely followed by the detectives. "Of course," she continued, "that wouldn't be too big of a deal if their youki would stay as low as it appears but, sadly, that's not the case. Even though the disclosure of their energy signals will be near unfeasible, their real strength and powers will still remain."

"Oh, what a headache!" Botan grimaced, jumping over a pile of scattered scrolls. Upon seeing Kagome's considerately furrowed brows, she brightened up, not wanting to trouble the young teen. "Don't worry though, we'll have it all reorganized and the Fuyouheki will be re-secured in no time!"

"Hah!" Yusuke butted in. "More like you'll make _us_ re-secure it _for_ you in no time!"

"Pish-posh, Yusuke! Since you guys are Koenma-sama's team, you were all included in the 'we' part." The ferry girl declared with a satisfied nod. Unexpectedly, she halted and beamed at Kagome, releasing the bedazzled girl's arm.

"We're here, King Enma!" She declared with a singsong pitch. She lifted an index, her solemn look portending Kagome to be cautious, "Just remember, be extra polite to him and don't mention his… erm… corporeal physique. Koenma-sama is quite irritable these days."

No sooner than her finished warning, the wall (or, more precisely, what the miko had assumed to be a wall) before them slid open. "Eh? Wait, Botan!" Cried out a disconcerted Kagome, "_Who_ am I going to talk to? Is it King Enma or Koenma…? I'm confused!"

"You may address me as Koenma-_sama_, if you will."

Kagome squeaked, turning to the single set of a desk and a chair. She raked about, looking for the origin of the youthful sounding voice, but was obstructed by the back padding of the seat as the speaker sat facing away from them.

"Bah! Stop your dramatics, pacifier addict!" Called out a negligent Yusuke from behind her as he plopped down, cross-legged onto the floor.

"Ehehe, still haven't grown since last time, eh?" Snickered a just as carefree and loutish Kuwabara.

"Yusuke!" Chastised Botan with a puckered brow. "And not you too, Kuwabara! Show a little respect! " She turned toward the hidden person behind the desk and bowed apologetically, demurely murmuring a 'Koenma-sama'.

Kagome looked around, unsure of what to make of their differing reactions to this mysterious Koenma person. She glanced behind her at the short-tempered Hiei, maybe his reaction would give her an indication as to how to act… However, he merely stood to the side looking blasé. Biting her bottom lip nervously, she was about to follow Botan's lead and bow ceremoniously, addressing this person as 'Koenma-sama' –after all, being respectful had always paid off by never triggering anyone's unwanted vitriol– only to be cut short by the level-headed Suichii guy. He merely walked to the front of the desk and politely informed 'Koenma-sama' that they had brought 'a person with high spiritual alertness who might shed some light on this entire affair'.

An agreeing 'hmm-mm' drifted to her ears before the chair swung round. Kagome let a whoosh of breath out as Koenma-sama finally showed his face. Upon the comfy looking wheelie chair sat a tiny plump baby sucking deliberately on a pale turquoise pacifier. An inflated purple hat –not unlike that of a chef's– with pink trimmings rested atop his head, perfectly matching his similarly decorated regalia. His large round eyes drifted from one person to another until they finally settled on her. The tot bounced up, clearly wanting to be level eyed with the immeasurably taller occupants of the room. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten about the mobility of his chair and wobbled as the wheels shifted positions. A 'splat' was heard as he fell face first onto the floor.

As the others suddenly roared with laugher, a concerned Kagome quickly rushed to the other side of the mahogany bureau. She still did not understand the situation or who, for that matter, Koenma was, but years of being around Shippou had engrained a certain semi-motherly semi-sisterly concern for all young children. A drop of that altitude on the _head_ could be dangerous and very painful for such a small infant. She pushed the chair aside and kneeled down. The small toddler had simply lifted himself up rather bravely, his face red from its impact with the floor. Incapable of holding back any longer, she crawled towards him and gently gathered him in her arms.

A small 'hiku' leapt out of him as she patted his small trmulous back soothingly.

"Are you okay?" The blue-eyed priestess asked softly, distancing herself a little so that she could distinguish his face. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears as his lips wobbled slightly. She pulled him back into her embrace. "Oh, you poor thing."

"Hiku."

"There, there, now. Everything is going to be fine." She pacified quietly. "That was really brave of you! I would've cried if I had fallen from such a height!"

Another muted 'hiku' escaped his mouth. He sniffled and forcefully stopped hiccupping.

"Oi! Toddler!" Hollered the still chuckling Yusuke. "Are you gonna come out or are you gonna continue crying behind your desk and that girl!"

Affronted by the boy's insensitivity, Kagome glared at him. "Yusuke! How could- "

"I'm NOT a toddler, Urameshi!" Came the undignified shout from the small, scowling bundle in her arms.

Shocked, Kagome emitted an impulsive 'eep', letting go of the talking child. He tumbled down unceremoniously. Once more, he picked himself off the ground. Only this time, he looked more prepared to pummel someone than to weep. Harrumphing regally and completely disregarding the recent events, he hopped back onto his chair.

"Ogre!" He shouted imperiously, impatiently tapping his chubby fingers on the polished table.

"Yes, Koenma-sama?" Asked a blue ogre as he entered the scene. Kagome's mind went blank. _He_ was Koenma-sama? That… for lack of better words, toddler (as Yusuke had uncouthly called him)?

"Why does this chair have wheels on it? It made me fall!"

"But… Keonma-sama," replied the ogre feebly, "you requested this chair specifically because you thought it would be fun to veer around in."

"Ah… that's right." Said the minute Koenma broodingly. "Well, I don't want it anymore! Get me my old chair back! Now!"

"Y-yes, Koenma-sama!" And the ogre swiftly rushed out.

"Humm." Koenma sat back into the traitorous new chair before grabbing the side of his desk and pushing; he whizzed to a corner of the room. The support of the chair was once again hiding his diminutive frame from view.

Yusuke grunted irritably. "Alright, toddler! Hurry up and get on with it! We're not here to inquire 'bout your health; we're here on business."

"Right. Right." Was the muttered response. The chair swiveled. A handsome young man, with short brown hair and a 'Jr.' marked upon his forehead, appeared.

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

(I _was_ going to stop here… but yeah…)

He stood up with ease and slowly strode his way up to Kagome, oozing of majestic grace.

"Hello." He greeted with a fluid bow, presenting his elegant hand to the stumped girl sitting on the floor. She accepted his aid undecidedly, her jaw unconsciously hanging open unbecomingly. Once she was effortlessly hauled up to a standing position, she slowly bowed back at him. "Uh… Hello. You… are?"

"Koenma. Also known as Enma Junior, heir of Reikei, son of the great King Enma. At your service." He declared, lifting her hand delicately and applying a breezy kiss to her knuckles. He straightened with an air of eminence. "Furthermore, I am cool, gorgeous and smart. Plus, I am _not_ a toddler."

Something sounding suspiciously like a snort resounded across the room, followed by quiet guffaws. Immediately, the teenaged Koenma tensed, glaring ominously at the shaking brunette who's frame was overridden with mirth. "Does someone want an elongated probation? Mmmm?"

Silence whooshed down within the room, taking up all the airy space with its thick anger.

"What? Urameshi is on probation?!" Asked an astounded Kurabawa. "Since when?"

Said Urameshi grumped moodily, ignoring the question. In his place, a self-satisfied and recently teenaged Koenma answered the question, "Well, you didn't really think that the Reikai would let such daaangerous" –a slight, wryly humoring lilt was added to that last word– "youkai re-enter the Ningenkai _with their full powers_, whilst devoid of any qualms. Did you?" The prince shrugged, brushing off the baffled Kuwabara's expression, which was an indication that the human had indeed thought just that. Deft hands reached out to tweak his purple hat snugly in place before second-guessing and snatching it off, replacing it on the bureau. "As I had already informed you, my father and the council had wanted, and been planning, on sealing all three of them back in Makai by conducting a deal with each of the Three Kings. And what my father wants is _law_."

Kagome listened attentively. Despite the fact that she could narrowly understand a quarter of what was being elucidated, she had a feeling that it held a certain value to the discernment of the presently unraveling proceedings as well as the odd people who had stolen her away.

"In spite of that," The babe-turned-adult carried on smugly, carefully ignoring the indignant flare of Hiei's aura at the thought that _anyone_ would dare to hope themselves capable of detaining him where he did not wish to be. "I had somehow managed to twiddle around a bit and convince them, with the support of the fact that those three had somehow managed to create a tense yet existent treaty between the three worlds _and_ the fact that the Three Kings' influence was no more, to permit your demon buddies here," a purple sleeved arm gestured to Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke, "to return to the human world with the strength of their youki left intact."

Koenma's chest swelled up like a balloon as he tossed his beholden detectives a supercilious glance. "However, as things are, everyone's still suspicious and wary. As a result, the agreement was made under the sole stipulation that they would be under my watch, at all times, by serving as spirit detectives for a few years, until they have re-gained Reikai's trust."

"Not that we had it to begin with." Interjected the aggravated detective with a predilection for truancy, whom had effortlessly stood up, patting his sturdy jeans dispassionately.

"Till that pending moment," Koenma resumed, ignoring the discourteous interruption, with his fixed attention on the still staring Kuwabara, "if they have even a wisp of doubt about this team's loyalties, your teammates will be executed on the spot."

Yusuke casually interlaced his hands behind his head. "So now that we all know about the happy circumstances of our return to the mundanely human world, can we please get back to the main subject?"

"Hey!" Shouted the slighted pureblooded human in his usual abrasive voice. "If Ningenkai's so boring then why the hell did you guys come back?"

The responses were immediate:

"Heh. Keiko."

"My mother."

"…"

The tallest of the group rapidly converged his attention on the silent Jaganshi. "So? What about you, Short-stuff?" He taunted. "It's not like _you_'ve got any family or something waiting for you here."

Kurama tried to conceal his smile, "Yes. Indeed, Hiei." At the sight of his glowering companion, he couldn't help but tease a bit more. "Is there someone we should know about? A long forgotten family member, perhaps?"

Yusuke was unable to refrain from joining in. "Oh! I know! Maybe a long lost sister?"

"Or…" Added a furiously giggling Botan. "Maybe…"

"Enough!" Commanded the annoyed elemental before lowly whispering a 'you talk; you're dead' threat to his unrelenting teasers.

"Hum-hum." Coughed Koenma. Displeased that the attention had shifted away from him, he addressed their silently observing guest. "Alright then, you are?"

"Higurashi Kagome desu." She introduced herself with an uncertain smile. "It's nice to meet you, Koenma… -sama. I am not sure if I'm cool, but I _can_ fire an arrow retty well. And…" She trailed off, trying to remember what the Junior had said about himself. After all, she was foreign to Reikai customs. Thus, it would be prudent to just imitate the other's greeting, lest she inadvertently insult someone. "I might not be gorgeous, but I guess I'm decent in looks. And I'm not too certain about being smart either, since…" She uncomfortably faked a laugh. "I'm currently failing the majority of my tests."

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

Koenma was at a loss. Was she humoring him?

His features warped.

Sighing, he decided to overlook the matter as they had already wasted enough time. "Yes, well… There are a few issues going on, and it would aid us greatly, if you decided to help."

"Uh, sure. I guess."

"Good. Good!" He turned to the sliding walls. "George!"

The same blue ogre of earlier rushed in once more. "Ah! Koenma-sama! I'm terribly sorry, but it seems your old chair had been misplaced… and…"

"It's of no concern! I like my newesr one better." Interrupted Reikai's heir, while regally sucking on his pacifier.

"What? But- " A raised hand silence the sputtering tiger fur wearing ogre.

"Fetch the bear we collected a week ago."

"Yes sir." It said miserably, obediently scuttling out.

"Kagome-san." Her gaze centered on the moving turquoise pacifier with speculative enthrallment. "Have you felt any weird spiritual activities around your residence in the past few weeks?"

"Well… I'm not sure if it qualifies," she bit her lip, but continued at the encouraging smile from Botan who was now standing behind the Reikai prince. "But there had been a demon at the park near my house… approximately a week ago."

A nod. "Yes. We are already informed of that. Do you know what happened to this demon?"

Kagome nervously wrung her hands as she stared at the floor. "Well… I don't exactly know… it was about to spring on me so I… pushed it away and… the next thing I know; it fell into a muddled mound on the floor."

Silence.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" An incredulous Yusuke's eyes were wide open as he deliberately gave the girl a skeptical once, twice, thrice over. "You mean _you_ got rid of that demon?"

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "…Yeah."

"Woah! You?" Stammered an equally shocked Kuwabara. "But- but you're tiny and a… a _girl_!" He blurted out.

"No really?" Sarcasm was layered on extra thick. Kagome's hand received a jolting spasm as her ire built. "And here I thought that I was just endowed with an extensive amount of flab!"

The boys' gazes promptly landed on her supposed 'fat'. Realizing the direction of their looks, she shrieked, tersely shielding her chest with her arms. "That doesn't mean you can stare!"

The ever peace-loving Kurama stepped forth with a mollifying smile. "Now, now. I am sure Kagome-san might have a few hidden powers; looks are widely known to be deceiving."

Caught off guard by the compliment, Kagome reddened and twittered. "Ah… um… Thank you Minamino-san!"

Kurama frowned at her use of his human appellation, realizing that she had yet to be corrected since their encounter at her family shrine. Before he could rectify her on the use of his name, Hiei stated his opinion on the topic of the girl's spurious 'hidden powers'. "Hn. A weak human female like you couldn't possibly be capable of defeating a bear, let alone a youkai one."

Kagome's diminishing rage immediately escalated to record heights as her irises flamed. "Well, I'll have you know, mister I'm-so much-better-than-you," (Here, Hiei had interposed with a knowing smirk and an 'I am', alternatively feeding more petroleum and kindling to her precariously mounting fire,) "that, if this 'weak human female' so wanted to, she could purify your ass into little itty-bitty ashes!"

Hiei's eyes hardened as his own rage went through a momentous upsurge, matching hers in intensity. He will not allow this human bitch to address him in such a taunting manner any longer. "Is that a challenge?"

Kagome tightly fisted her hands…

"Here he is!" Shouted George, unsuspectingly shattering the heated moment. His face was drenched in sweat as he pushed in a glassed box, placed upon a cart, with one last tired thrust. "This thing sure is heavy!"

"No complaining on the job!" Admonished Koenma caustically. The ogre sighed.

Breaking away from the (admittedly extremely scary even though) vertically challenged youkai, Kagome bent forward, looking into the see-through box.

She paled.

The terrifying image of a livid Hiei allayed her mind, only to be superseded by the vision of a giant globule of hair. The creature's mouth was horridly misshapen, as if melted, and its eyes were–

…'crooked' wouldn't have sufficed; one round bulging orb was situated below its distorted gaping hole of a mouth, while the other was half an inch above.

Its nose couldn't be seen under all the blotchy brown fur and its ears were on either side of its ball-like body. Kagome looked around; no other limbs were attached to the beast as it rolled about helplessly.

"Is that…?" She swallowed, pointing a wavering finger at the grisly _thing_. Her eyes were drinking in every detail of its appearance, repugnantly captured by the idea that _she_ had done this. "Is that the kuma demon from last week?"

O x o s O x o s O x o s O x o s O x s o x O

AN: I apologize for the protracted delay. I know, I know; it's been a long stretch since I've last updated this fic. Therefore, to compensate, I made this chapter _really_ looooong (at least by my standards). It's around twice as lengthy as the usual ones... so… Hope you guys enjoy!

PS: Read n' review! Maybe I'll update faster if you do… Hehehe… XD (or not, since school's starting soon TT)


End file.
